MIAMI (CBSMiami) – As the Republican presidential nomination campaign is about to hit its stride, the ad wars nationally are coming at a cost and that’s giving Mitt Romney a distinct advantage over his nearest competition, Rick Santorum.

Currently, Romney and his affiliated super PAC aer outspending Santorum 60:1 across the country, according to Politico.

For example, in Michigan, Romney is expected to deploy at least $1.2 million in a massive advertising campaign targeting Santorum. Santorum is responding with roughly $42,000 in ads on Fox News in Michigan.

For Santorum, who’s run a shoestring campaign, if he could ever get his fundraising in line with Romney; he likely could easily win the nomination.

But Santorum’s lack of funds to go head-to-head with Romney’s ad campaigns could produce a similar result to that in Iowa and Florida.

In the days leading up to both the Iowa cacuses and the Florida primary, Romney was trailing in the polls. However, after his campaign and super PAC poured millions into ad campaigns in both states, Romney walked away with a victory in Florida and a close loss in Iowa.

Plus, while Santorum is forced to focus on the upcoming states like Michigan; Romney’s super PAC is already buying air time in states that will vote on Super Tuesday.

Currently, Romney is in trouble in Michigan. Santorum has seen his campaign vault into first place in some polls and the former Pennsylvania Senator is threatening to possibly carry most of the Midwest in the primary season.

Still, even with Romney’s massive money advantage, he hasn’t been able to put Santorum away. What could help Santorum is if fellow conservative Newt Gingrich drops out of the race.

But so far, Gingrich hasn’t shown any signs that he is even considering dropping out of the race.